Too Fast
by The Prickly Pear
Summary: "It was my great granddad's first," she explained, "Story goes it saved him in the Second World War, a good luck charm or something." Post Series. Chloe Latimer/Alec Hardy friendship. References to Doctor Who.


_**Title:**_

_Too Fast_

_**Author:**_

_The Prickly Pear_

_**Genre:**_

_English_

_**Rating:**_

_K_

_**Summary:**_

"_It was my great granddad's first," she explained, "Story goes it saved him in the Second World War, a good luck charm or something." Post Series. References to Doctor Who._

_**Author's Note:**_

_Yet another attempt to break the case of writer's block I'm currently suffering from in the form of another one-shot. This one is an idea that popped into my head back when I first watched Broadchurch and honestly, I'm surprised nobody else has written it first (or maybe they have and I haven't seen it) but really, somebody had to! _

_As always, please let me know what you think. Thoughts, questions, concerns? Likes? Dislikes? I take 'em all!_

_**Disclaimer:**_

_All characters you recognize are the property of Broadchurch's rightful owners. __This fanfiction is written solely for my amusement, no money has been made whatsoever._

_**Happy Reading!**_

* * *

Alec Hardy's heart was beating too fast. Not so fast that he was in danger as passing out again but the erratic beat was still enough to tighten the muscles in his chest uncomfortably, despite the medication being pumped into his hand. He cursed the malfunctioning organ mentally but refrained from letting the words slip past his lips for the sake of the child standing uncomfortably at the foot of his bed. And really she was a child, sixteen and all but still a child and one he really didn't want to have to deal with right now.

"I'm not with the police anymore," he said gruffly, ignoring the fact that his voice was just a bit too breathless to have the desired effect, "You'll hav'ta head down to the station if you've got a question."

But Chloe Latimer shook her head quickly, a few strands of blond hair tumbling into her eyes. "No, no I don't have a question, it's just…" She bit her lip uncertainly, reached into the pocket of her oversized hoodie and produced a large, battered-looking pocket watch. "It was my great granddad's first," she explained, staring at the watch, "Story goes it saved him in the Second World War, a good luck charm or something. Anyway he gave it to my granddad, who gave it to my dad who gave it to Danny – " her voice caught in her throat and she looked away for a moment before visibly steeling herself and continuing, "We found it when we were cleaning up his room the other day. Mum and Dad wanted me to have it but I just thought… I dunno, I just thought you should have it…"

Her voice trailed off as she shuffled awkwardly in front of him and Alec found himself taking pity on the girl who was obviously just as uncertain about what she was doing as he was. "Fine," he said roughly by way of acceptance.

Chloe's relieved smile was all he needed to see to know he'd made the right choice. She moved quickly around to the side of his bed and deposited the watch into hand before returning to her original position at his feet.

Alec, for his part, was studying the watch. He traced the circular engravings with his finger before looking up at the teen once more. It was beautiful in a damaged sort of way and warm and safe… And it was also a family heirloom. "Chloe, you know I can't take this," he told her, his voice gentler this time.

"But I want you to!" said the blond indignantly, folding her arms across her chest in such a way that Alec was reminded vividly of his own daughter, "No one ever really said thank you to you, did they? And they should have, I mean, you figured it out… Besides, Becca Fisher said you had another one of your attacks and, well, I just thought maybe you could use some good luck, you know, for your hearts..."

She looked away again, her arms still folded and the former detective frowned for a moment. For the love of God, couldn't anyone keep information to themselves in this town? Heaving a sigh as best he could with the tightness in his chest he returned his focus to the girl before him, a girl who could easily have hated him, who had no business standing at the foot of his bed and handing him gifts that just felt so _right_... "Thank you," he said at last, catching himself off guard.

Chloe's eyes jumped back to his face, her expression mirroring his own surprise. "You're welcome," she replied softly, moving to the door as she spoke before pausing in the doorway, "I hope they can fix you."

And with that, Chloe Latimer was gone leaving Alec Hardy alone once more with only a battered old pocket watch and his dodgy old heart beating away much too fast.


End file.
